Articles

Welcome to the July 14, 2017, issue of Pharma Industry News Update (aka PinUp). It's time to see which pharma executives received the most compensation in 2016, even if a large chunk depends on stock price! We're talking tens of millions of dollars here! I am totally surprised that Pfizer's CEO and Chairman Ian Read 'took home' so much less than 'price gouging' Mylan and Valeant executives. Go figure!

Welcome to the July 11, 2017, issue of Pharma Industry News Update (aka PinUp). Investors - including many pharmaceutical companies - are pouring billions of dollars into digital health companies. Many of the 'solutions' offered by these companies will never see the light of day. One expert - Richard Meyer, Principal at Strategic Marketing Solutions - believes 'most of the money will never see dime one of ROI.'

Welcome to the July 7, 2017, issue of Pharma Industry News Update (aka PinUp). We talked about 'influencer marketing' in a previous issue of PinUIp. That newly-minted 'buzzword' generally applies to using real patients to influence other patients. But the pharmaceutical industry has long used physicians to influence other physicians. As we see in this issue of PinUp, physicians who have received payments from drug companies are also influencing FDA drug panels.

Welcome to the June 23, 2017, issue of Pharma Industry News Update (aka PinUp). The relationship between the pharmaceutical industry and patients is often a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. This is especially true of how the industry funds and benefits from so-called 'patient advocacy groups and organized 'patient activists.'

Welcome to the June 27, 2017, issue of Pharma Industry News Update (aka PinUp). Can we trust the pharmaceutical industry to present unbiased information to physicians? In some cases, physicians may be overwhelmed by positive data without being adequately informed about the context of that data; e.g., disclosure of clinical trial endpoints. Patients too may not have access to all the information they need.

Welcome to the June 23, 2017, issue of Pharma Industry News Update (aka PinUp). This issue of PinUp focuses on the credibility of health information on the Web in general and specifically communications from pharma companies via blogs and press releases.

Welcome to the June 20, 2017, issue of Pharma Industry News Update (aka PinUp). Drug industry direct-to-consumer (DTC) ads - including non-branded disease awareness ads - have long been criticized as being uncreative. Ad agencies that produce these ads often cite FDA regulations as the cause. These days, FDA may be more accommodating by allowing ad creatives to do without some of the side effect information. But first, they must study the issue!

Welcome to the June 16, 2017, issue of Pharma Industry News Update (aka PinUp). You have to give kudos to the good doctors and policy makers of the American Medical Association for trying over the course of many to ban or in some way curtail direct-to-consumer drug ads by pharmaceutical companies. The latest effort focuses on drug price transparency in ads. Will it succeed where the other efforts have failed?

Welcome to the June 13, 2017, issue of Pharma Industry News Update (aka PinUp). PhRMA - the drug industry's trade association - defends high drug prices as necessary to fund the development of new and innovative medicines. The message, however, may be falling on deaf consumer ears.

Welcome to the June 9, 2017, issue of Pharma Industry News Update (aka PinUp). Do you hate your job in pharma? Perhaps, like a friend of mine, your position got eliminated after many years of loyal service. But it may be a blessing in disguise if the behavior of Big Pharma is more and more at odds with your personal values. If so, you have options for cleansing your soul.